


On the first warm day

by TheDameintheRaininMaine



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Beltane, F/F, may day traditions, nearing graduation, witch holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-21 15:32:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15560892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDameintheRaininMaine/pseuds/TheDameintheRaininMaine
Summary: On the morning of Beltane in her third and last year at Luna Nova, Akko wakes to a surprise at her door.





	On the first warm day

Beltane is one of the most important of witch’s holidays. Every May festivities fill the grounds, with the Jennifer memorial tree decorated throughout the morning and dancing and merrymaking in front of the traditional bonfire into the night. 

It would have to be in May, just weeks before final exams. And while in class Akko sometimes felt as useless as she did her very first day, her skill had come along just enough that she felt she could enjoy the holiday without having to worry about her marks. Even though it was their third and final year, she still felt almost confident. 

Though in the days preceding the festivities, it didn’t seem like Diana agreed with her. Though the group had mostly remained close throughout their years at school, leading up to the end of term, Diana began spending more and more time alone, studying in the library. Akko was only a little confused- Diana was as dedicated to her studies as ever- but an equally small bit hurt. 

When the morning sun woke her up the morning of Beltane, Akko wondered if she would even see Diana at all that day. Her wondering is broken by a sharp knock. 

Confused at who would be knocking on the dormitory door this early, Akko peeked out from under her blanket. 

“If it’s mortal danger, tell it to wait til after breakfast,” Sucy commented sleepily. 

It ends up being Lotte who actually rises to check. 

“There’s no one here...wait”. 

After a moment, Lotte reenters the room, holding a paper cone filled with cut flowers. 

Sitting up, Akko is surprised with Lotts thrusts the cone at her. 

“It’s got your name on it Akko”. 

“It’s so pretty!” she exclaims, taking it and turning it over. True to Lotte’s word, her name is neatly printed along the top. There are daffodils and gardenias and heliotrope and all kind of other blooms Akko could scarcely remember the name of.

Rather than leave it in the dorm, Akko carries the basket with her to breakfast, leaving it sitting in the top of her bag. 

“Getting ready a little early Akko? Not going to be enough flowers for you later” Amanda comments as she joins the others 

“I don’t know, Lotte just found them on our door handle this morning,” Akko comments, putting the basket on the table and staring at it. 

“Maybe if you stay close to them for too long they’ll start to feed off your blood, until they grow huge and try to eat humans” Sucy interjects.

“They’re cut flowers Sucy,” Lotte points out. 

Akko ignores her and keeps staring at the flowers. She decides to return them to her dorm before she joins the others in preparations. 

In the hallway outside the dormitories, Akko bumps into Professor du Nord. 

The professor gestures to the flowers in Akko’s hands. 

“I haven’t seen a may basket in years. I wondered why Diana was asking about them in the library the other day, perhaps she hopes to revive the tradition. “

Diana. 

“Heh, well, Diana is all about tradition…” Akko replies, feeling her train of thought trail off. 

“I’m surprised, they were really more of an American thing. There are even stories in books written by non witches about them. Young adults would often use them as a way to express romantic interest and it was a point of pride that if someone left one on your door to try and chase them down.”

Romantic interest. Akko hasn’t felt her brain go this foggy and stuttery since her first round of exams at Luna Nova. 

Murmuring her thanks to Professor du Nord, Akko ducks back into the dorm, breathing heavily. She places the basket on her night stand, and regards it curiously. 

Well it’s not the thought had never crossed her mind or anything, about her and Diana. They’d been nearly inseparable since the Grand Triskellion...all of them really. But her and Diana, had always had a tension between them that Akko didn’t feel with the others. 

What if she was getting a head of herself though?

Then again...the basket was specifically labelled for her, and it was the only one she had seen that day…

The day is warm, one of the first truly warm days of the year. Akko, grateful for the relief from uniform dress, pulls on a pair of shorts and a shirt and heads out to investigate. 

Flowers, everywhere, is the only way the preparations. Above doorways, surrounding windows, inside and out, were progressively being filled and adorned with blooms by most of the student body. All bushes and shrubs on the grounds are adorned with lights and tin foil, the grandest of all planned for the Jennifer memorial tree. 

After a trip to the kitchens (being the secretary of the fairies labor union had its perks for sure), Akko eventually finds Diana in the greenhouse supervising the decoration of the memorial tree. The once again healthy frame had been hung with lights enchanted to blink in turn and dance about the branches, and foil figures shaped like the students of the school hanging among the leaves.

Despite Akko trying to surreptitiously search her face, Diana looks no different than she had for the last three years. Still the same dedicated, studious girl, now more accepting of being dragged into messes of fun. Out of her uniform, she’s worn a light colored printed sundress, though it does nothing to detract from the authority she welds over the others.

She watches until Diana calls the task finished, and approaches her as the others thin out. 

Akko has never been taciturn or found herself at a loss for words, but approaching the other girl all she can force herself to do is to present her with her offering, head slightly bowed. 

The books had called it a love apple, carved in half in a shape vaguely resembling a heart and brushed with a thin layer of honey, and dusted with cinnamon. 

She finally finds the courage to lift her head. Diana’s expression, has changed. There’s still the mask of control, but it’s muted by a newly appearing tenderness. 

“I thought you were supposed to bury it while thinking of the person whose affections you wished to call to you”. 

Akko’s face twists, into something more like its natural smiling state, belying her nerves that have begun to fade. 

“What? And waste a perfectly good apple?”

Diana bursts out laughing, and Akko feels all the butterflies in her stomach settle completely. 

Diana takes the apple, and takes a single bite. 

“At least you had the guts to do it in person,” she admits, chewing, a down note in her voice. 

She bends, and leaves the rest of the apple on the ground, and reaches for Akko’s hand, taking it with only a hint of a blush. 

“Come on, if we’re already done here, Holbrooke should be lighting the fire.” 

The decorations are finished and the fairies have set up for the feast. The sun is shining bright in the sky and a gentle breeze blows. As they walk towards the courtyard, Akko lets their fingers slide together and intertwine, and she suddenly feels like everything might be okay. What could go wrong on a day like this?

Holbrooke’s tiny figure stands in front of the pile of enchanted wood as the rest of the students gather around. She says a quick blessing to the green man and the earth mother, then raises her wand and ignites the pile into a blaze. 

In previous years, it had been a mundane everyday fire, but after an incident their first year, involving Amanda and some rather unfortunate burns, the wood was now enchanted not to spread or scorch while still burning into the night. 

And with the fire roaring, the fairies leave them with the feast and the festivities can begin. 

Akko snags and scarfs down a fairly large portion of cheese-and-potato quiche. Most of the rest of the student body are milling around the tables, waiting while Amanda and some of the other musically inclined students setting up to begin playing. Having always spoken of just wanting to play her life by ear, Amanda turned out to have a great ear for the enchanted pipes. 

Her and Diana hang back from the others, sitting on the edge of the bridge, side by side, still hand in hand. 

The light of the afternoon is now high and golden in the sun, and staring over the crowd of their classmates, Akko comments, 

“It’s so hard to believe it’s our last year here.”

“People will start leaving as soon as exams are over. That’s why I felt like...like I had to do something before it was all over.”

Akko’s eyes get huge, 

“You’re still staying until Midsummer with me right? You’ll still be here for my birthday?”

Diana nods. 

“I have to be back home in August for the next lunar occultation of Venus.”

“I still can’t believe after all that fuss you got another chance in just two and a half years.”

“I want to prepare as much as I can for the ceremony...and honestly I’m not really ready to leave school behind. It all feels…”

Akko squeezes her hand, solid and warm in her own. 

“New and scary and...so open ended.” There’s more than leaving school that feels that way to Akko right now. Diana’s eyes are so downcast though, that it hurts her deep inside.

Akko takes a deep breath. 

“Don’t get down,” she insists, “It’s Beltane. Today’s supposed to be about strength and growth and…” her voice stumbles, “passion. Let’s celebrate it with our whole hearts.”

And sucking up every single ounce of courage in her tiny little body, Akko surges forward and kisses her. Diana turns beet red and her eyes bug out before falling shut. Her posture softens, melts really. 

It lasts seemingly forever, but still not long enough, and when they part, Diana’s concerned face has been rendered soft and vaguely dreamy in a way that might embarrass her even worse. Akko can feel the dumb smile that’s spread on her face. It feels the same way it does when she does something stupid and somehow manages to get away with it. 

Diana lets out a soft laugh. 

“Again?” Akko asks. 

By the time that they part for any kind of significant amount of time, the sun has begun it’s path downward and the rest of the students have taken to dancing around the bonfire. 

Diana is looking at the scene with a spark in her eyes. It’s a similar spark that people often claimed to see in Akko’s. It’s not terribly like Diana, but Akko’s known her too long to declare it out of character.

“No one’s tried to jump this year.”

Jumping over the bonfire was supposed to bring a year of good fortune, of good luck. Though even the enchanted fire still had the potential to do damage to clothing.

“Ever since Amanda-”

“Amanda’s thighs heeled, and she had a spare uniform skirt. I’ms surprised she hasn’t tried again either. Though..-”

She gets a studious look in her eye, standing and making measurements with her fingers and hands. 

Akko looks at her, a little uncertain. This really isn’t the sort of thing she would expect Diana to want to try. But then again, she had already taken a leap of faith today. They both had.

Diana turns to her, reaches out her hand. Akko takes it. 

“Follow my lead. “

“Diana-” 

“To the future. With our whole hearts.”

Akko takes a deep breath, stands, and joins her.


End file.
